Inhoudsopgave van 2021-07-01 - Star

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za PRIVATE sector loans continued to remain in contractionary territory for the third month in May as corporates and households reduced taking credit on Covid-19-induced activity. Data from the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) yesterday showed that private sector credit fell 0.42 percent year-on-year in May, following a deep decline of 1.76 percent in April. This decline was better than market expectations of 0.9 percent. SARB said the ease was primarily due to corporate credit, which contracted 5 percent year-on-year in May following a sharp 6.7 percent slump in April. South African businesses have remained reluctant to take on more credit as uncertainties over the economic outlook remain due to rising Covid-19 cases and lockdown restrictions. In contrast, household credit extension continued an upward trend, growing by a…

Itumeleng Mafisa The ANC in Joburg says it has asked its deployees in the city to take urgent action in the two-month long Metrobus strike. The party’s spokesperson in the region, Sasa Manganye, said the City of Joburg mayor had been roped in to act on the matter and he would be releasing a media statement by the end of the week. The Star understands that workers affiliated to the SA Municipal Workers Union had been reporting to work but unable to drive the buses because of intimidation from striking workers. Metrobus has reportedly lost hundreds of thousands of rand in revenue because of the industrial action. “They should be able to issue a statement before the end of the week. We have mandated the mayor to intervene and…

Chulumanco Mahamba chulumanco.mahamba@inl.co.za THE Mediclinic hospital group has urged members of the public to protect their personal health as the group experiences a rising demand for beds in four provinces. Mediclinic Southern Africa chief clinical officer Dr Gerrit De Villiers confirmed there was a huge demand for hospital beds during the third wave of Covid-19 infections in Gauteng. He added the group was also seeing increases in demand for care in Mpumalanga, Limpopo and the Western Cape. “It is important to note that while ICU and high-care capacity may vary from hospital to hospital, depending on the number of licensed beds, not all Covid-19 patients require ICU care or mechanical ventilation.” He said many patients were treated successfully with supplemental oxygen and other treatment modalities. De Villers added patients arrived…

Zelda Venter zelda.venter@inl.co.za WHILE it was a nasty experience for a man who was arrested and had to spend three nights sleeping next to a smelly toilet in a holding cell, it all ended well for him. The North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria has ordered the Ministry of Police must pay him R120 000 damages. A judge said whether an inmate or not, everyone was entitled to their constitutional right, which included not to be humiliated by a toilet bowl filled with excrement. It started when Marchant Mumford was arrested in May 2016 on some charges which he did not mention in his court application, as he did not sue for wrongful arrest. He was first taken to the Krugersdorp police station holding cells where he was detained for a…

Sihle Mavuso AMID anxiety and fear that the pending jailing of former president Jacob Zuma could possibly cause political instability in the Nkandla area, an SAPS patrol van trying to gain access to the rural home of the former head of state was yesterday turned away. The behaviour of about 10 MK vets guarding the Zuma home raised some eyebrows, but the SAPS downplayed it and said the circulating video taken during the minor commotion was “misinformation”. The stopping of the SAPS vehicle carrying four armed police officers from the nearby Nkandla police station happened yesterday afternoon. The police station is one of the two where the Constitutional Court on Tuesday said Zuma should use to hand himself in and be transferred to prison to start serving his 15-month sentence…

Morgan Bolton morgan.bolton@inl.co.za THE British and Irish Lions tour, when it moves to its bio-bubble in Cape Town, should remain and complete the itinerary there. World Rugby’s most famous touring team start their South African campaign on Saturday against their namesake at Emirates Airline Park. They are then scheduled to play the Sharks on Wednesday at the same venue, and complete the first leg of their tour at Loftus Versveld against the Bulls, four days later. The B&I Lions then travel to Cape Town to play a SA “A” side, the Stormers, and the first Test against the Springboks at Cape Town Stadium. They are scheduled to return to Gauteng the week of July 26 to play the final two matches of their three-Test series against the Boks at FNB…

Richard Calland THE Constitutional Court has found former president Jacob Zuma guilty of contempt of court and sentenced him to 15 months’ imprisonment. Clearly, this is a momentous, historic verdict, with profound legal and constitutional implications, and one that will have political reverberations. The groundbreaking judgment was read out by Acting Chief Justice Sisi Khampepe. Never before has the Constitutional Court passed a custodial sentence, still less on a former democratically elected president. This was one of several choices that the court had to make. The first question – whether there had been contempt of court – was straightforward to answer: Zuma had chosen not to contest the proceedings and had declined to offer any justification or denial of his decision to defy the order of the same court…

TOP seed Novak Djokovic clinically dispatched big-serving South African Kevin Anderson 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 yesterday to glide ominously into the Wimbledon third round. Defending champion Djokovic, bidding for a sixth Wimbledon and record-equalling 20th Grand Slam title, was imperious during a grasscourt masterclass on Centre Court. In a repeat of the 2018 final, the Serbian broke Anderson's serve once in each set and offered up only five unforced errors. His only minor concern were a couple of tumbles to the turf on the lush grass, but he remained unruffled. Twice Grand Slam runner-up Anderson, who is battling back after knee problems, did not play a bad match but Djokovic was at his ruthless best as he won in an hour and 41 minutes. "It was almost flawless today, I hope…

YOUTH month has come and gone. It is thus compelling to reflect on the challenges facing South Africa’s youth – top of which is unemployment. According to Statistics South Africa’s (StatsSA) Quarterly Labour Force for the first quarter of 2021, South Africa’s unemployment rate stood at 32.6 percent. This rate was 46.3 percent among young people aged 15 to 34 years, implying that almost one in every two young people in the labour force did not have a job in the first quarter of 2021. About a quarter, 24.4 percent, of the youth have jobs, and 45.3 percent participate in the labour market. Within the youth, those aged 15 to 24 are more vulnerable in the labour market with an unemployment rate of more than…

Itumeleng Mafisa COSATU has expressed concern over the Quarterly Employment Statistics for the first quarter of 2021, which shows that employment decreased by (-0.1%) quarter-on-quarter. Cosatu spokesperson Sizwe Pamla said the results also showed a decrease in employment by (-5.4%) year-on-year, between March 2020 and March 2021. The grim statistics are released as the country battles Covid-19 and businesses are struggling to operate under level 4 of the lockdown. “The unemployment numbers reflect not just the devastating impact of Covid-19 but also of the government’s ‘misguided austerity strategy’, that is geared towards containing public-debt and reducing budget deficit, instead of achieving structural economic transformation, through diversifying and building the productive capacity of the economy,” Pamla said. He said the unemployment statistics show that there was no real commitment to…

Minister irregularly hired advisers, paid them millions for up to almost two years before approval Loyiso Sidimba loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za The Public Protector has found that Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula irregularly appointed and paid his three advisers millions of rand without the approval of his Public Service and Administration (PSA) Minister Senzo Mchunu. Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has found that the appointments of special advisers Lawrence Venkile and Bongisizwe Mpondo as well as legal adviser Kaiser Khoza were done contrary to the provisions of the Public Service Act and other prescripts applicable to the department in 2019. Mkhwebane’s investigation also uncovered that Venkile and Khoza were irregularly paid salaries equivalent to those of deputy directors-general even though their appointments were not yet approved by Mchunu. The report is among the 16 released…

SOUTH African money will continue to bear the face of Nelson Mandela and not other presidents of the post-1994 government, the South African Reserve Bank has said. The bank celebrated its 100-year anniversary with the launch of about eight million commemorative coins. Head of currency management, Pradeep Maharaj, said the coins depicted the history of money in South Africa. There was also a coin that would be a teaser of what the R5 would look like. The coins were not worth more than the current value of the R5. “For now, our notes have been depicted with our first democratic president depicted on our notes and our coins. It’s the coat of arms, and it is likely that the next series of notes and coins will remain with those pictures,”…

Chulumanco Mahamba chulumanco.mahamba@inl.co.za Gym owners and industry employees are concerned about the jobs of about 30 000 employees in the industry as it calls for the reopening of gyms and fitness centres. On Sunday, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the closure of gyms and fitness centres, night clubs, casinos, theatres and cinemas, and museums as the country was placed on adjusted lockdown level 4. In response to the move, Fit SA which represents about 360 gyms and fitness centres across the country, issued an open letter to Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma and Minister of Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa calling for the closure to be reconsidered. “We appreciate and support all that the government is doing to curb the Covid-19 pandemic, but are very concerned…

PETER BACHTIS | Benoni The jail sentence against Jacob Zuma heralds the absolute demise of the ANC, as the true nature of factionalism and tribalism emerges. Eleven million Zulus have revered and stood by Zuma and I don’t think they are going to abandon him now. The sentence has divided the once-great ANC completely, reflecting the hideous side of a revolutionary party made up of fallible men and women as they embarked on a journey of theft, corruption and betrayal. People with no morality to speak of were given the reins of power, promising a better life for those who believed in them. Zuma’s weak leadership and penchant for lots of moola opened the gates of hell, as his previously oppressed supporters began a feeding frenzy at…

“POWER tends to corrupt, and absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely,” wrote Lord Acton in 1887 – which has over the subsequent decades become a virtual rule of political behaviour in democracies and tyrannies on the left and the right. The momentous Constitutional Court ruling, without appeal, ordering Jacob Zuma to spend 15 months in prison for contempt of court was to be expected, given the ex-president’s increasingly arrogant flouting of its authority and that of Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo and his commission. It has been greeted with a variety of responses, from Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu welcoming “the watershed moment” to Mzwanele Manyi’s more sombre reaction, “a dark cloud has covered South Africa today”. The complicated background probed by Zondo commission stems from his involvement in the arms…

SOUTH Africans are fed up and cash-strapped. As of today, which marks the new financial year, eThekwini ratepayers have to contend with a property rates increase of 4.9%, refuse 4.9%, water 8.5%, sanitation 8.5% while electricity will increase by 14.59%. In Joburg, residents will also pay 14.59% more for electricity, 6.8% more for water and sanitation and 2% more on property rates. Cape Town residents will pay a 4.5% average increase in rates, 5% increase for water and sanitation, 3.5% for refuse removal, and an electricity tariff increase of 13.48%. In each of the cities, the municipality had the same response to these increases – it was kept as low as possible, given the impact of Covid-19. eThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda said the Eskom bulk electricity increase and the Umgeni…

POLICE work can be one of the best-paid professions in the US. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median salary for a police officer last year, was $67 290 (R961 965) – more than one-third higher than the national median of $48 769 for all occupations. Although there is a great deal of variation across the nation’s roughly 18 000 police departments, the agency also reports that salaries for police have largely climbed in the past five years – from an 8.8% increase in Mississippi, the state that overall pays its police the least, to a 21% increase in Hawaii, one of the best-paying states. As a former police officer who studies policing in the US, I think it is unlikely that police salaries can go anywhere…

NURSING mothers will be allowed to bring their children to the Tokyo Olympics when necessary, 2020 organisers told Reuters yesterday. Organisers have barred family members of athletes from attending the Games due to Covid-19 safety protocols, while foreign spectators are also excluded and domestic crowds will be capped. Some athletes have complained that they were being forced to choose between the Games and their young children but organisers told Reuters in an email that the restriction has been eased. "Given that the Tokyo 2020 Games will take place during a pandemic, overall we must unfortunately decline to permit athletes' family members or other companions to accompany them to the Games," organisers said. "However, after careful consideration of the unique situation facing athletes with nursing children, we are pleased to confirm…

Bongani Nkosi bongani.nkosi@inl.co.za JAILED former crime-intelligence boss Richard Mdluli and erstwhile colleague Mthembeni Mthunzi have launched a bid to be released from prison. Close to 10 months since the South Gauteng High Court jailed the pair for five years each, they have returned to the same court to ask for bail. Judge Ramarumo Monama told their legal representatives yesterday that he would hear the application later this month. The matter was heard briefly at the high court in Joburg yesterday. Ike Motloung, Mdluli’s lawyer, told The Star the bail that the pair sought would set them free while the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) decided if it would hear their appeal application. He said the SCA was petitioned some months ago to hear the appeal application. Mdluli and Mthunzi sought…

Mpiletso Motumi mpiletso.motumi@inl.co.za LIFE coach and entrepreneur Makgotso Masingi-Zondo always knew she was not meant to work in the corporate field. “It was not for me. Sometimes we just go into things to be able to sustain ourselves. Especially us black people. You can’t just start a business without raising capital. We also have things like black tax, to give back to our community. Corporate was never for me and I was never interested in climbing the ladder or working in some big corner office because I knew deep down that was not where I was meant to be.” It was when she started her life coaching that she got the courage to break out of the mould of limitations. “We can all do more and be more. That really…

Morgan Phaahla | Ekurhuleni The South African Airways (SAA) has set the ball rolling for the “new dawn”. Put in simple terms, the SAA’s acquisition of a strategic equity partner – which remained shadowed by secrecy – has traits of the CR17 presidential campaign. This fate will befall Eskom’s divisionalisation with the 1996 class project as the natural inheritor of those public assets, evidence of which is plain for all to see. Predictably, Public Enterprise Minister Pravin Gordhan declared SAA financially distressed to begin the business rescue proceedings. The naked failure to deliberate with stakeholders on the value-contribution by the rescue practitioners to the business plan of a “new airline” was indicative of Public Enterprise Minister Pravin Gordhan’s arrogance fraught with secret agenda. Gordhan also failed to consider…

Unequal pay case in South Africa puts spotlight on how boards run their affairs Businessman Andile Ngcaba, the former chairperson of South African-based technology company Dimension Data, has brought a lawsuit against the company for more than R400 million for unequal remuneration. The case raises interesting questions about how board committees work, the taking of minutes, and who has access to board minutes. Ngcaba served as the executive chairperson of the company from 2004 until 2016. He learnt in 2016 that other senior executive directors were earning more than he was and they were benefiting from a long-term incentive scheme, from which he was excluded. He discovered this when the company publicly provided details of the salaries of executive directors. The Companies Act requires companies to disclose the…

IT was the inimitable Eddie Jones who once said that “babies in Georgia are born with beards”, when he was asked about the scrumming challenge posed by the eastern European team. That was when Jones was coaching Japan and his tongue-in-cheek chirp was a compliment to Georgia, with Jones adding: “They have a massive scrum, the biggest, ugliest pack in the world.” It is also why Jones invited the Georgian pack to scrum against his England men during a break in the 2018 Six Nations but he got more than be bargained for and a video of the Georgians scrumming the Red Rose pack backward at a rate of knots went viral on social media. If this doesn’t convince you of their toughness, consider that Soviet Russia dictator…

“ASK Goolam, he’ll help you out.” That was a refrain from players, coaches, other members of the South African team management and older journalists, who had travelled more regularly with the Proteas. It was November 2005, and the SA team was in Mumbai, playing against India in a five match one-day international series. Graeme Smith’s team was up 2-1 in the series. The final match was a day/night affair at Wankhede Stadium. Mixed in with all the work was the concern for myself, then Beeld sports writer, Jaco van der Merwe and the late Duif du Toit, one of South Africa’s best sports photographers, that we had to hustle to the airport to make a 2am flight back to SA. The game was scheduled to finish at around 11pm and…